Surfing Waves

Hi, was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these paddleair surfvests http://paddleair.com/. or anything similiar. Considering one to help with back issues especially when paddling, if they're any good.Thanks

Yeh APH
I tried one of the early ones, and wrote report on it for them.
They have since put out a later and reshaped model.
So my critique may not be as valid.
The inflatable bladder inside a rash shirt with a special insert pocket was basically square across the chest and and could be inflated from anorexic level to Dolly Parton size (not recommended by them or by me but funny non the less) It gives great variation to meet your individual needs, over inflation tended to cause hyper extension pains in the low back.
Throughout the inflation range there was improved neck and shoulder comfort slightly offset by the need to counter balance side to side rocking of the torso at higher inflation.This caused different stresses in the thoracic area.
At inflation it was a little harder to reach your hands into paddle but this would be subject to the normal anatomical variation of arm length and could be addressed by your inflation level
One thing I did find challenging is not being able to easily penetrate into the wave face when I wiped out, I wasn't comfortable with this especially in bigger surf

It is in my opinion, the beginnings of a potentially good design and the subsequent model may have addressed these problems.
Another thing that I wasn't happy with, was the overlocking stitching on the lycra rash shirt part of the Paddle Air began to fail very quickly, this is common with quite a lot of rashies and perhaps more attention to quality has been paid in the later models.
I certainly hope so, as this was the reason I did not persist with the product in the long term.

I would consider Paddle Air over things you glue to the deck of your board to raise the chest ( tripping factor) and I would avoid off the rack support belts because you lose muscle strength and one day you go out without the support and get slammed causing major injury because of that loss of muscle strength.
Paddle Air does not appear to substitute for muscle tone but rather is a postural aid so it seems to be ahead of other products.

Could be worth trying.
but like all the ads say; if pain persists see your health professional
Edited to add; I looked at the site and there is comment by a surfer I know of from Byron Bay whose comments address the problems I mentioned and he feels they have been fixed, including the fraying, so perhaps more worth looking at. I'll look again myself.

Thanks for the reply. Could be the thing for me then. Although was wondering if the were any way I could find some thing to stitch or stuff inside the wettie eg foam or some extra layers of neoprene that could do something similiar to the paddleair. Had thought about deck attatchment but figured it would be a trip hazard

Very interesting, never heard or seen this paddleair before. @jaffa1949 Thanks for posting a review.